Barbecue has always been a favourite with the Americans. It is a part of their parties and a passion with some.

Barbecue is believed to have originated in the West in the late 1800s during cattle drives. The cowboys were considered so inferior (much before the time of Clint Eastwood) that they were fed with the leftovers of the meat consumed by their honchos (bosses).

But the cowboys were smart enough to realise that this meat when left to cook for a long time on a slow fire could be yummy.

Barbecue is one of the few things Americans claim as authentic and a part of their culture.

But another version says the cowboys themselves were not originally from the U.S. and that the idea was brought over from France.

With a lot of Indians moving abroad in search of greener pastures, the tendency now is to develop a taste for exotic food. Thus barbecue is welcomed here with open arms.

This was pretty evident from the crowd at Galaxie, Hotel Horizon's rooftop restaurant, at the recent, `Grand Barbecue Dinner Festival'.

The spread was limited, but, interestingly, the appetisers were all vegetarian and the main course non-vegetarian. Though the choice for the veggies was less, there was Corn on the Cob, Corn boiled in milk and pepper and grilled, which was a wonderful starter and a meal in itself, and so was Mixed Vegetable Steak, a variety of grilled spicy vegetables.

Then there was Paneer Steak, and these were served with garlic bread, barbecued shallots (small onions fried with sugar syrup) and drumstick leaves mixed with broken rice.

The Stuffed Tandoori Drumstick stole the show as the main course.

This is boneless chicken stuffed with a mixture of more chicken, ground paneer, chopped onions, coriander leaves, egg white and salt. To put it in a nutshell, `it was finger lickin' good'.